<above pic: country leaders that are signing the TPP>
The last negotiation for the TPP was held in Singapore with the Americans having very high hope that Singapore as the Chairman of the talk would deliver to Obama an agreement before the end of the year. Somehow the Americans have this very loyal and diligent ally to do its bidding in getting things done when the Americans are no longer able to do so with so much distrust it has built up over the years. No one really trusts the Americans anymore, not its western allies. And the most remarkable thing is that the American Congress was also suspicious of this TPP. In the words of Nancy Pelosi, she urged the Congress to approve the TPP as time was the essence and once it is signed, Congress would then have a chance to know what the TPP is all about.
Can you believe that? The American Congress was asked to sign a blank cheque without knowing what they were signing? And if the American Congress refused to sign something they did not know, why would any country feel so confident and so good that they should blindly sign on the dotted line? Are these people stupid or crazy or being bribed or under a spell?
The TPP has aroused intense suspicion and much opposition in the US Congress but not from some of the loyal American cronies who think of nothing but to go along. At the Singapore session, the Asian negotiating partners too have refused to bow to Washington’s pressure to conclude the deal before the end of the year so that Obama can celebrate Christmas with this Christmas present.
One important feature of the TPP that is sending cold sweat down the spines of the negotiating parties is its secretive nature. Many things are concealed and the parties negotiating it have no clue whatsoever. It is really amazing, really bizarre that the Americans could proposed a trade pact with secret terms that the signing parties have no privy to and are expected to sign, or presumably stupid enough to do so. And there are some parties who pretended to be so intelligent and so knowledgeable to sign the pact without knowing the secretive parts of the pact. Or maybe these few insiders knew what were the non disclosed terms in the pact. But this is very unlikely. How could they be so privileged to know when the American Congress was not allowed to know?
‘This secret treaty gives the public no chance to examine the contents, and even govts have no right to comment.’ From the look of it, this treaty is going to be hundreds of times more dangerous than the CECA Singapore signed with India. Should Singaporeans allow the govt to go ahead and sign this TPP when the American Congress is also feeling uncomfortable and insecure and signing it would only make them look like fools?
There must be more transparency and the parties signing the agreement must know what they are signing. This is basic. The Americans are as good as saying, trust us, no need to worry, it is good for you. My God, how many govts are willing to be treated like naïve little children, offered a lollipop and happily impress their thumb prints on a piece of paper that may sign the lives of their citizens away?
If the Singapore govt is going to sign this TPP, should the Singaporeans object to it and demand to know what the govt is signing? We did not ask what the govt was signing when the CECA was signed. Now we know and the citizens would want to tear it to pieces. Are Singaporeans daft enough to allow the govt to sign another sweeping agreement that they did not know and neither does the govt?
Is this fiction or is this real? This signing of the TPP is like something the British colonialists made the Temengong signed in the early 19th century. But then the Temengong did not have any option as the offer could not be resisted. At the moment the Singapore govt seems to be the most comfortable with the TPP and is behaving like the pipe piper. It is so scary.
Chua Chin Leng aka redbean
* The writer blogs at http://mysingaporenews.blogspot.com